John McCormack

How many social workers now? A review of census and other data.

Abstract At any point in time, an understanding of how many social workers there are, who employs them, where they are employed, and so on, is of interest to professional bodies, practitioners and student social workers, as well as social work course providers in terns of demand for new graduates. Change in numbers of social workers over time can also be used to interpret political and social changes impacting on the human service industry, as well as professional turnover. Previous labour market analysis research in this journal has documented census counts of social workers up to the 1991 census, and reviewed employment outcomes for different cohorts of graduating BSW students as indicators of social work occupational labour market status. This article updates the previous research with 1996 census data, as well as some more recent ABS 2000 labour Force Survey data. The updated data show an increase in the number of social workers up to year 2000. However, there is both continuity and change in other labour market dimensions of the occupation social work, and, like previous research, the article finds some irregularities between the actual counts. The article argues that the monitoring of counts should be continued, using data sources other than the census, and longitudinal surveys of new graduates would be a useful supplement to enhance our understanding of the change in number of social workers over time.

Student Performance in Field Education Placements: The Findings of a 6-Year Australian Study of Admissions Data.

This article reports on a 6-year study that examined the association between pre-admission variables and field placement performance in an Australian bachelor of social work program (N=463). Very few of the pre-admission variables were found to be significantly associated with performance. These findings and the role of the admissions process are discussed. In addition to the usual academic criteria, the authors urge schools to include a focus on nonacademic criteria during the admissions process and the ongoing educational program.

Globalisation and social work : a snapshot of Australian practitioners' views.

The process of globalisation, that is, the increasing interdependence of world society, is a controversial movement supported by some because of the potential cross-national benefits, but criticised by others because of the fragmented or uneven distribution of those benefits. As many social workers interact with clients who may be affected by globalisation processes, we were interested to investigate their practice views on this topic. Sixty-six social workers completed a questionnaire that explored the relationship between local and international issues. Practitioner responses indicated a strong interest in the topic and widespread agreement that, in their daily practice, there is a link between local and global issues affecting clients. How this perspective is incorporated into practice, however, was not so clear, and there was some variation within the group of respondents. The paper concludes with some suggestions to further enhance the knowledge on this topic among social workers.

Gambling and older people in Australia

Objectives: There is a dearth of studies on the gambling behaviour of older people in Australia. This study aims to address that gap in local knowledge by investigating the gambling activity of older people in the general community, as well as the situation of older gamblers who attend counselling services for people with problem gambling behaviour.

Looking back and moving forward? Ageing in Australia 2000

It was timely that the 1999 International Year of Older Persons (IYOP) occurred in the last year of the century because the purpose of the year is to celebrate ageing achievements as well as to produce positive sustainable change for the future. Thus it affords an opportunity to assess the status of ageing in Australia as a result of developments up to that point, as well as providing an indication of where ageing research, policy and practice is headed in the new century. This paper examines the IYOP in Australia as a measure of achievements to date, and then focuses on its major output, the proposed National Strategy for an Ageing Australia, as a look ahead. This follows a brief review of some socio-demographic data on ageing in Australia at the end of the century, and a summary of research on ageing as recorded in the Australian Ageing Research Directory (Office for the Aged 1993, 1996).

Hitting a century: Centenarians in Australia

Background: Census data show that people aged 100 years or more are increasing in number. However, there is a dearth of local information on these people as a socio‐demographic group. This paper presents some aggregated quantitative information on these long‐lived people.

The emergence of centenarians and supercentenarians in Australia

This paper explores the changing prevalence and socio‐health status of centenarians in Australia over the last 100 years. The aims of the source study were (1) To identify and describe sociodemographic characteristics of Australian centenarians, and compare them with centenarians from other countries; (2) to investigate whether there is social and health heterogeneity among Australian centenarians; (3) to investigate whether there are social and health differences between centenarians and younger aged cohorts in Australia; and (4) to report on preliminary quality‐of‐life measures. Findings confirming the aims are reported and the author concludes by arguing for the establishment of a multidisciplinary Australian Centenarian Study.

Acute hospitals and older people in Australia

The Australian health care system is frequently portrayed as being in crisis, with reference to either large financial burdens in the form of hospital deficits, or declining service levels. Older people, characterised as a homogeneous category, are repeatedly identified as a major contributor to the crisis, by unnecessarily occupying acute beds while they await a vacancy in a residential facility. Several enquiries and hospital taskforce management groups have been set up to tackle the problem. This article reviews their findings and strategic recommendations, particularly as they relate to older people. Short-term policy responses are being developed which specifically target older people for early discharge and alternative levels of care, and which, while claiming positive intentions, may introduce new forms of age discrimination into the health system. Few of the currently favoured proposals promote age-inclusivity and older peoples rights to equal access to acute care.

Being very old in a young country: Centenarians and supercentenarians in Australia

This chapter will briey review the history of identication, recording, and documentation of centenarians and supercentenarians in Aus- tralia 1 . The paper explains the sources and validation methods used, as well as identifying problems and barriers to validation. The paper then critically comments on the completeness of reported supercentenarian numbers in Aus- tralia, using overseas estimates as a benchmark. This will include an evaluation of the accuracy of census and other historical data sources used to validate centenarians and supercentenarians in Australia. The paper concludes with comments on the possible future number of people age 100 years or more, and how Australia might institutionalize their identication and recording.

Elder Participation and Senior Power in Australian Electoral Politics

ABSTRACT This article seeks to assess the “goodness of fit” between the social science literature on the impact of older voters on electoral outcomes and the Australian experience of the politics of aging. While the literature suggests that the notion of senior power is a flawed one, Australias 2004 federal election campaign indicated that this is not quite so. This article offers a possible explanation for the difference between the literature and the Australian experience in terms of the calculus that underpinned the election campaign, namely, capturing the votes of swing voters in marginal seats including “silver” swing voters in seats with a disproportionate number of older voters. The preliminary findings of a small exploratory study of campaign strategists suggest that there may be a real basis to this explanation. Thus, there does appear to be some basis for asserting that “gray power” does play a role in Australian national electoral politics.